Known by fellow musicians and jazz fans alike as simply "Tesch," Frank Teschemacher was a key member of the famed Austin High Gang, a group of schoolmates who helped pioneer what was known as "Chicago-style jazz."

Though talented at many instruments, Tesch is best known for his hot and exciting playing on the clarinet and alto saxophone. His career was cut tragically short after he was killed in a car accident in 1932.

Track Title: Out of the Dawn

Artist: Buddy Clark's Orchestra

Album: Out of the Dawn 78

Out of the Dawn | Buddy Clark’s Orchestra
A newly-discovered possible Frank Teschemacher recording

Recorded in New York for Brunswick on November 24, 1928, this rare side was recently discovered by Kurt Weisbecker and it is thought that Frank Teschemacher is present on the record due to the very Teschemacher-like clarinet solo starting at 1:22. (This record is not to be confused with a previous recording of “Out of the Dawn” recorded on September 28th, with the Dorsey brothers and Frank Teschemacher definitely present; this is a completely different recording)

Here is Weisbecker’s argument as to why the solo indicates that Frank Teschemacher is the clarinetist:

The soloist here is playing it pretty straight. What makes this a difficult identification is that we have no other known example of Tesch playing a subdued, close to the vest, “blinders on” solo. We are used to hearing him blowtorch his way through melodies. The soloist here does nothing of the kind, yet plays with a phrasing and tonality (playing to the sharp side of things), as Brad Kay has noted, reminiscent of Tesch. […]

This soloist almost squeaks at the beginning of this solo, during a fill-in between measures of the song, and actually does squeak towards the end in the same spot between measures. The presence of these squeaks, both in the same place musically and also on the downbeat indicates to me a presence of style as opposed to a bad reed or a mistake.

Many have argued that the clarinetist could simply be Jimmy Dorsey directly emulating the Chicago-style but Weisbecker counter-argues that by saying that even on other recordings when Dorsey emulates the Chicago-style, his playing is still clean and we never hear anything close to the squeaks and sharp tonality exhibited here.

Considering Teschemacher arrived in New York in mid-June, stayed there for roughly 5 months, and there is no concrete evidence of Teschemacher being back in Chicago until he appears on a Chicago recording session on December 17th, it is entirely possible that he could have been around to make this recording.

Tesch’s “Chicagoans” recorded two sides for Brunswick in 1928, “Singin’ The Blues” and “Jazz Me Blues.” Both were rejected and were thought to have been lost. “Singin’ The Blues” seems to have perished, but a test pressing of “Jazz Me Blues” managed to survive and was issued in May of 1939 by the United Hot Clubs of America. Even later, it was reissued by Decca and credited to “McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans, Direction of Mr. Tesch.”

“My buddy Tesch was way ahead of his time.” — Jess Stacy

“Teschemacher ignored his critics. He knew where he was going even if he did not always get there, and he usually seemed unconcerned about whether anyone else understood or cared. Frank Teschemacher played hot jazz for Frank Teschemacher.” — Red Hot Jazz Archive

Happy birthday, Frank Teschemacher! | March 13, 1906 — March 1, 1932

“Teschemacher wanted a sharp, rough-and-ready enthusiasm that drove everything before it. His dynamic and rhythmic inventions—such as the diminuendo chorus, a whispered holding-back, before the final tumultuous ride-out, in which he himself invariably played the clarinet’s high notes flat—were all aimed toward this objective. Being in tune didn’t matter, relatively speaking; loud and raucous did. And these were the primary elements of most Chicago jazz from that time until it ended.”

— Hayden Carruth, Suicides and Jazzers

themelodicword:

The Spirit of Chicago Jazz and The King of Swing // A Compare and Contrast of Frank Teschemacher and Benny Goodman

Nobody’s Sweetheart | McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans (Teschemacher on clarinet)
Nobody’s Sweetheart | Benny Goodman
Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble | Miff Mole and His Little Molers (Teschemacher on clarinet)
Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble | Red Nichols and His Five Pennies (Goodman on clarinet)
Oh Baby | Eddie Condon’s Quartet (Teschemacher on clarinet and alto sax)
That’s A Plenty | Benny Goodman
Jazz Me Blues | Frank Teschemacher’s Chicagoans (Teschemacher on clarnet and alto sax)
Memphis Blues | Ben Pollack and His Orchestra (Goodman on clarinet)
Copenhagen | Elmer Schoebel and His Friar’s Society Orchestra (Teschemacher on clarinet)
Pound Ridge | Benny Goodman and his Orchestra

LISTEN

Bull Frog Blues | Charles Pierce and His Orchestra

Frank Teschemacher on clarinet and alto saxophone, Muggsy Spanier and Dick Feige on cornet, Charles Pierce on alto saxophone, Ralph Rudder on tenor saxophone, Dan Lipscomb on piano, Stuart Branch on banjo, Johnny Mueller on string bass, and Paul Kettler on drums.

Recorded for Paramount, February 1928, in Chicago.

After a four-bar orchestra introduction lifted from “St. Louis Blues,” Teschemacher takes over for two full choruses of 12-bar blues, played with tremendous ardor (and numerous reed squeaks). He plays with passion, a quality too often missing in the work of latter-day clarinetists, and he shows an authentic feeling for the blues. His two choruses are notably loose in their overall design. At 22, Teschemacher is already showing a freedom in his phrasing and an ability to glide across bar lines that he would not live to realize fully.

— Liner notes from the Giants of Jazz: Frank Teschemacher LP box set, written by Marty Grosz

Frank Teschemacher’s Music: A Masterpost

As a member of the infamous “Austin High Gang,” Chicago jazz musician Frank Teschemacher was a driving force in 1920s Chicago-style jazz. His unique musical style on the clarinet and saxophones was brilliant in its raw passion and intelligent improvisation, and helped inspire a large number of fellow reedmen such as Pee Wee Russell and the “King of Swing” Benny Goodman.

Unfortunately, compared to his contemporaries, Teschemacher didn’t record much in his short 25 years of living as he was reportedly nervous of recording. Luckily though he did leave a number of recordings to help solidify his place in jazz history as an exciting soloist for future generations.

Here is a list of available recordings that he made, as well as some he might have been on, all of which were made in the prime of his musical career.

1927~

with McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans (Tesch on clarinet): Sugar | China Boy | Nobody’s Sweetheart | Liza

1928~

with Charles Pierce and His Orchestra (Tesch on clarinet and alto sax): Bull Frog Blues | China Boy | Jazz Me Blues | Sister Kate | Nobody’s Sweetheart

recorded under Frank Teschemacher’s Chicagoans (Tesch on clarinet and alto sax): Jazz Me Blues

with the Chicago Rhythm Kings (Tesch on clarinet): Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home | There’ll Be Some Changes Made | I’ve Found a New Baby

with the Jungle Kings (Tesch on clarinet): Friar Point Shuffle | Darktown Struttters Ball

with Miff Mole’s Little Molers (Tesch on clarinet): One Step to Heaven (Windy City Stomp) | Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble

with Eddie Condon’s Quartet (Tesch on clarinet and alto sax): Oh Baby (Rain or Shine) | Indiana

with The Big Aces (Tesch on clarinet and tenor sax): Cherry (Take A) | Cherry (Take B) | Cherry (Take C) — currently unavailable

with The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (Tesch on clarinet and tenor sax; note: he’s hard to hear on these recordings due to the other horns): ‘Round Evening | Out of the Dawn

with Wingy Manone and His Club Royale Orchestra (Tesch on clarinet): Trying to Stop My Crying | Isn’t There A Little Love?

1929~

with Ted Lewis and His Band (Tesch on clarinet; note: Ted Lewis is playing clarinet as well, but you can tell the difference between the two ;P): Farewell Blues | Wabash Blues

with Elmer Schoebel and His Friar’s Society Orchestra (Tesch on clarinet): Copenhagen | Prince of Wails

1930~

with The Cellar Boys (Tesch on clarinet): Wailing Blues (Take A) | Wailing Blues (Take B) | Barrel House Stomp (Take A) | Barrel House Stomp (Take B) | Barrel House Stomp (Take C)

Recordings that Frank Teschemacher might be present on:

with Sam Lanin’s Famous Players (1928): Too Busy

with the Ipana Troubadours (1928): Nagasaki

with the Original Wolverines (1928): Limehouse Blues | Dear Old Southland

Track Title: Jazz Me Blues

Artist: Charles Pierce and His Orchestra

Album: Jazz From The Windy City

Jazz Me Blues | Charles Pierce and His Orchestra

Frank Teschemacher on clarinet and alto saxophone, Muggsy Spanier on cornet, Jack Reid on trombone, Charles Pierce on alto saxophone, Ralph Rudder on tenor saxophone, Dan Lipscomb on piano, Stuart Branch on banjo, Johnny Mueller on brass and string bass, and Paul Kettler on drums.

Recorded for Paramount, April 28 in Chicago.

Track Title: Sister Kate

Artist: Charles Pierce and His Orchestra

Album: Jazz From The Windy City

Sister Kate | Charles Pierce and His Orchestra

Frank Teschemacher on clarinet and alto saxophone, Muggsy Spanier on cornet, Jack Reid on trombone, Charles Pierce on alto saxophone, Ralph Rudder on tenor saxophone, Dan Lipscomb on piano, Stuart Branch on banjo, Johnny Mueller on brass and string bass, and Paul Kettler on drums.

Recorded for Paramount, April 1928 in Chicago.

In one startling, brilliant four-second break (he has obviously been saving it up) [Frank Teschemacher] expresses everything he wants to say about “Sister Kate.” He races through it in breathtaking double time with every note exactly in place as though set by a jeweler rather than flung out in this single astonishing eruption.

— Liner notes from the Giants of Jazz: Frank Teschemacher LP box set, written by Marty Grosz